A poll of more 5,000 movielovers by MSN Movies found that one in five fans were most frightened by William Friedkin's 1972 film - banned in the UK until 1999 - while The Modern Saw franchise and Stanley Kubrick's adaptation of Stephen King's The Shining were voted the third and fourth scariest.

The Omen, Jaws and the revolutionary 1999 horror The Blair Witch Project were also named in the top ten.

Over a third of voters named Hannibal Lecter as the top horror villain, while the titular Alien of that influential series of sci-fi movies was labelled the second most frightening.

However the foes of these two baddies were lauded by poll respondents, with Sigourney Ripley's portrayal of Ellen Ripley in Alien and Jodie Foster's role as Clarice Starling voted among the greatest horror heroes.

Roy Scheider's Chief Martin Brody from Stephen Spielberg film Jaws was also a favourite of many, while John Williams' timeless score from the same production was named the scariest horror music.